Darkest Before the Dawn
by Takianna
Summary: Prequel to By Dawn's Early Light


**Darkest Before the Dawn**

She waited, like so many times before. Waited for a signal of his return, when she knew that it had to be futile. Futile because he would come when he was able to slip away, unnoticed among a sea of those who shared his face.

Without much thought, she twisted the small trinket he had given her the last time he had been home, between two fingers, letting them memorize every single minute detail of the charm. She knew that the small charm had been very hard for him to procure and she treasured it even more for that reason. He had thought so much for her, that he had given all he had to bring it to her.

Clones didn't have much and what they did have, they could carry in a ruck sack as they moved from place to place throughout the galaxy doing the bidding of those who would pay them no respect and give them no accolades.

"General Skywalker's ship has made landfall," Threepio said from behind her in his always too precise tone.

"Thank you Threepio," she said without turning away from the window because somehow her heart always knew where to find him even in the sea of people which walked the city planet even at this late hour. She didn't want to turn from the window for even a moment, in case he was on his way now. She wanted to see him arrive.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Threepio asked as he turned to leave.

"No," she said softly looking down at the charm she held in the palm of her hand. She had everything she needed until he got home. She was just waiting to be complete again and she wouldn't be until she knew that Rex had returned once again safe to her arms.

Threepio trundled away and Padme place the velvet ribbon around her neck and tied it delicately at the back of her neck.

_This is just a nightmare...This is just a nightmare...THIS IS JUST A NIGHTMARE!_

She had to try to remind herself of this over and over as she awoke breathing heavily, her heart racing. Somehow Padme had become tangled in the sheets of her bed as she had dreamed of a night which seemed so long ago, but still wasn't far enough from her mind to be totally forgotten.

The night she had met Rex.

It had been awful and she didn't truly remember the parts Rex had lived through while she had been close to death's door. How her heart ached for him because he did remember the entire night of huddling together and him not being sure if she would survive. Padme knew that the pain he carried with him was great and was getting greater every time he watched a brother die on the battlefield. She hated knowing that Rex carried the burden of what had happened to her.

It had been a diplomatic mission which had gone terribly wrong. Padme had been shot and they had been pinned down in an abandoned building by a large group of rebels. There had been shooting throughout the night, that much she remembered. The sounds of blasters being fired and Rex returning fire from their location. The rest was fuzzy and when she had been retrieved from the bacta tank, Rex had been waiting for her, sporting some wounds of his own.

She had been so grateful to the clone captain, that she had spent some time with him and found he was a very sweet man, but she thought nothing more of it because he was a soldier and she was a senator. Nothing could happen between them, or so she kept telling herself the whole night after he was scheduled to leave for battle. She had been a nervous wreck the whole night and couldn't stand to let him go without telling him her true feelings.

Finally, she called him to her apartment and revealed the way she felt about him. To her relief, Rex had a kissed her passionately and their love affair had begun. Everything was so secret and it had to stay that way even now. Senators did not get involved with clones, in fact, some people didn't even think that clones had rights and should never love. Padme knew that Rex was a human the same as anyone else and he deserved everything that came with being a human.

Rising from the bed, Padme pulled her robe around her cold shoulders and made her way towards the window. She pushed the shear curtains back and was greeted by the continuous light of Coruscant. The lights blurred together as she continued to stare at something only her heart could see. Life went on even while she was waiting.

Suddenly she heard the turbolift coming to a halt at her apartment and she couldn't move fast enough. The robe slipped from her body and flitted to the floor as Padme ran towards the turbolift. As her bare feet padded across the carpeted floor, she stopped, breathlessly, in front of the turbolift doors and straightened herself as best she could.

The doors parted and standing there, helmet under one arm and grin on his face, was Captain Rex. He was out of the turbolift before she could speak and his lips were pressed to hers telling her a thousand things that he had been waiting to say, but couldn't.

He was home and he was safe. Padme sighed and enjoyed being safe in his arms as the worry melted from her soul.

"I'm home," he said finally placing his chin on top of her head.


End file.
